Raider baseball sweeps Shockers

Raider baseball rebounded from a disappointing doubleheader in Liberty Bell to sweep Waterville in a convincing fashion last week.

Led by the pitching of Justus DeWinkler, who gave up only one hit while striking out eight batters, the Raiders won April 24 at Greene Field 11-0.

DeWinkler received offensive support from Lee Williams, Tyler Garvin and with his own bat. Williams went 2 for 3 with a double and three runs batted in. Garvin also hit a double along with a RBI. DeWinkler went 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs.

The Shockers continued to have trouble scoring on the Raiders in the doubleheader on Saturday. Kramer Carlson pitched a complete game no hitter, striking out eight batters for the win. The only Shocker run was unearned, scored by a fielding error.

At the plate, Raider bats connected for 13 hits in the game. Kendall Piccolo, Williams, Keith Rosenbaum, and Dalton Boutain all had one hit. Trey Nicholson had two hits that turned into two runs.

DeWinkler had another three-hit game, and Carlson backed up his pitching performance with three runs batted in.

With the display at the plate and mound, the Raiders won again over Waterville 10-1.

In the last game of the season series, DeWinkler again took to the mound, striking out 10 while giving up zero hits.

DeWinkler’s hitting streak also continued, as he went 2 for 2, scoring a triple and home run for three RBIs.

Brady Black contributed two runs. Tim Loch, Boutain, and Carlson all had one RBI.

“We have been focusing primarily on being able to play small ball and making sure that we are having productive at-bats, whether we are getting on or not,” Head Coach Brandon Byers said. “We are really going to continue working on the small parts of the game and trying to get our entire squad healthy again prior to districts.”

Byers noted that the Raiders are in an interesting position atop the Central Washington 2B League.

“Currently, we are in a three-way tie for first with Brewster and Liberty Bell with each team having three games left,” he said.

The Raiders took the series from Brewster two games to one, while Liberty Bell has the tiebreaker over the Raiders by the same count. This means the Raiders need to sweep or win the season series with Oroville this week to stay on top.